Flow control valve



NOV. 26, 1968 F, N q TAL 3,412,805

FLOW CONTROL VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 14, 1964 Nov. 26, 1968Filed Aug. 14, 1964 F. P. GRIBBIN ETAL 3,412,805

FLOW CONTROL VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY E M d. OE/VEV United StatesPatent O 3,412,805 FLOW CONTROL VALVE Franklin P. Gribbin, 312 GarnseyAve., Bakersfield, Calif. 93303, and Harold A. Glover, Bakersfield,Calif.; said Glover assignor to said Gribbin. Filed Aug. 14, 1967, Ser.No. 660,489 7 Claims. (Cl. 166-184) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aversatile oil well tool having a flow valve provides for fluid flow intoand out of a string of pipe, as well as the capacity to stop fluid flow,and permits either normal or reverse fluid circulation during varioustypes of operations, such as inflating packers, cementing, gravelpacking, and the like.

Background of the invention The present invention relates generally tothe field of oil well tools, and more especially to a valve structurefor insertion in a string of pipe and which may be opened and closed byrotation of the pipe from the surface.

In the course of completing an oil well, there are many different typesof operations that may be carried on. For example, it is often necessaryto place cement in the bore hole and around the casing in order to shutout water from the production zone. Sometimes, as a temporary measure,it is sufficient to inflate packers outside the casing as a means ofshutting off water; but often the packers at this location are merelypreliminary to cementing operations.

At times, it is necessary to clean or wash out the bore hole, and thismay involve reversing the circulation over a part of the depth of thewell, that is, having the upward or return circulation inside the tubingstring and then introducing it into the casing and outside the tubingstring for the remainder of its travel to the surface. Another operationoften required before bringing in production is to pack gravel around aperforated pipe at the bottom of the well or in a production zone, thepurpose being to prevent sand and other debris from being carried by theoil into the pipe where it can settle out and eventually plug the pipeand thereby cause loss of production.

These are but typical types of operations involved in completing an oilwell, and any or all of them may be used or they may be used indiflerent combinations. In order to carry them out, it is necessary tohave complete control over the fluid circulation. This involves not onlybeing able to shut off circulation at a particular point in the well inorder to hold pressure on the fluid below the point of shut-oil, but itinvolves being able to effect either normal or reverse circulation, asmay be desired.

If each of these different operations requires a different tool, theseries of operations becomes very time consuming and, therefore, costlysince it would be necessary to run a series of different tools in thewell, one for each different operation. Obviously, much time can besaved and costs greatly reduced by having a tool that is capable ofperforming in a manner to permit a variety of such operations to becarried on without changing the tool.

Thus, it becomes a general object of the present invention to provide aflow control valve which is designed to afford the operator greatflexibility in well operations and to permit a variety ofdiiferent typesof operations to be carried out without changing the valve.

Another object of the invention is to provide a flow control valve whichis not only versatile in its functions but also is simple inconstruction and reliable in operation.

3,412,805 Patented Nov. 26, 1968 Summary of the invention These objectshave been achieved in a valve embodying the present invention thatcomprises an outer body which is adapted to be connected to the stringof pipe at one side of the valve, an inner sleeve rotatable inside thebody and adapted to be connected to a string of pipe at the other sideof the body, the body and sleeve each having a port. The ports can bemoved into registration or out of registration by relative rotation ofthe sleeve and body. Means are provided holding the body and sleeveagainst axial movement, and fluid duct means are provided opening to theinterior of the sleeve below the port and opening to the exterior of thestring of pipe at a point below the port, whereby circulating fluid canbe directed into and out of the string of pipe. Packing means areprovided externally of the string of pipe below the port and above thelower end of the duct meansto block fluid flow externally of the pipestring between the port and the duct means. A second packing means mayalso be provided externally of the string below the lower end of theduct means in order to confine fluid at the point of exit from thestring of pipe and build up fluid pressure for various purposes.

Dynamic seals are placed between the sleeve and body around the porttherein and also between the sleeve and the duct means, permitting thesleeve to rotate without leakage of fluid at this point. A second pairof ports in the sleeve and duct may also be provided just below thesealing means at the upper end of the duct means, allowing fluid flow tobe directed in or out of the pipe at this point also.

Description of the drawing FIGURE 1 is an elevation of a length ofcasing with expansible packers thereon in a section of bore hole;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the casing and pipetherein, as on line 2-2 of FIGURE 1, showing the flow control valve inlongitudinal median section;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 of a variational embodiment ofthe invention;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse section through the pipe and casing on line 44of FIGURE 2 or 3;

FIGURE 5 is a transverse section through the flow control valve on line55 of FIGURE 2 showing the ports in registration and open;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 showing the valve closed with theports out of registration; and

FIGURE 7 is a transverse section through the valve and the port collarin the surrounding casing, taken on line 77 of FIGURE 3.

Description of a preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawing,there is shown in FIG- URE l a bore hole 10 in which is positioned thestring of casing 11 which carries one or more expansible packers 12externally of the casing. These packers, as will become apparent, areexpandable into contact with the wall of bore hole 10 in order toprevent circulation of fluid outside of the casing. Also contained inthe string of casing 11 are port collars 14 which are located above andbelow packers 12 and more or less closely adjacent to them.

As shown in FIGURE 2, there is inside casing 11 a string of pipe ortubing indicated generally at 16. Included in this string of pipe is aflow control valve indicated generally at 18.

Valve 18 is comprised of an outer body member 20 which is hollow andwhich is adapted at its lower end for a threaded connection to tubularmember 21 which may be considered as a part of the string of pipe but,as will be explained later, also functions as an extension of body 20.Inside body is a tubular valve sleeve 23 which is adapted at its upperend for threaded connection to the string of pipe above it.

At its lower end, sleeve 23 has an enlarged diameter section 24 whichprovides an upwardly facing shoulder engageable with a correspondingdownwardly facing shoulder on body 20, thus permitting an upward pull tobe transmitted from the sleeve to the body. The sleeve is held withinbody member 20 in assembled position by a lock ring 25, which ispreferably threaded for connection to the body member. The opposingshoulders and the lock ring hold the body and sleeve of the valveagainst relative axial movement.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 5, body 20 has a port 26 extending through aside wall and sleeve 23 has a similar port 27. When these two ports arein registration as shown in FIGURE 2, the interior of valve 18, and morespecifically the interior of sleeve 23, is placed in communicationthrough the aligned ports with the exterior of pipe 16. A second pair ofports 29 and 30 in the valve sleeve and body, respectively, are locatedbelow the first pair of ports and, likewise, when in registration, placethe interior of sleeve 23 in communication through the aligned portswith the exterior of pipe 16. As will become apparent from laterdescription, the first pair of ports 26 and 27 are in registration witheach other at the same time that ports 29 and 30 are in mutualregistration.

In order to bring the areas of cooperating ports into and out ofregistration, sleeve 23 is relatively rotatable in body 20. Rotation ofthe sleeve is effected by turning the string of pipe 16 above the valve,such turning of the pipe string being accomplished at the ground surfaceby means which are well known. Resistance to turning the body isafforded by packer 31 which is an expansible resilient member fastenedexteriorly of the string of pipe in any suitable manner and which bearsoutwardly against the inner face of casing 11. The frictional engagementof the packer with the casing restrains the body from turning and allowssleeve 23 to be angularly moved with respect to the body.

In order to limit the angular movement of the sleeve and body relativeto each other, stop 33 is mounted on the outside of the sleeve at aposition where it extends into recess or slot 34 cut in the upper end ofthe valve body, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 4. The opposite ends of slot34 provide a pair of opposing shoulders which are engaged by limit stop33. Thus, when stop 33 is at one end of slot 34, as shown in FIGURES 2and 4, the cooperating pairs of ports are in registration, and theinterior of the sleeve is in communication with the exterior of the pipestring. By rotating the sleeve approximately one-half revolutionclockwise, viewed from above, stop 33 is moved to the dotted lineposition in FIGURE 4, and the ports are then out of registration,thereby shutting ofi fluid flow between the interior and exterior of thepipe string. The ports in registration appear as shown in FIG- URE 5;and when the sleeve is rotated to the position last described, the portsappear as in FIGURE 6.

In order to prevent leakage of fluid from the interior of the pipestring under pressure, sealing means are provided at various locations.Such sealing means are generally dynamic seals which permit the angularmovement of the sleeve as just described. One sealing means is thatshown in FIGURE 2 at 36 and comprises a relatively wide sealing bandwhich surrounds sleeve 23 at the location of port 27, port 27 openingthrough seal 36 so that the port is surrounded completely by the sealingmeans. In addition, other sealing means, such as O-rings 37, may belocated above the port, both sealing means 36 and 37 being between thesleeve and the body around the sleeve.

Similar sealing means are provided around port 29 in the sleeve asindicated at 38. Again, the sealing means 38 may be supplemented byO-ring 39 or other suitable sealing means located in the enlargeddiameter head 24 of the sleeve.

While either pairs of ports described above provide one path for fluidflow between the interior and the exterior of the pipe string under thecontrol of valve 18, a second path for fluid flow between the interiorand the exterior is provided by fluid duct means indicated generally at40. This includes a hollow tubular member 41 which is open at its upperend to the interior of sleeve 23. Tube 41 is smaller in diameter thanthe interior of the sleeve and is annularly spaced from the sleeveexcept at its upper end where the end of the tube is provided with fluidsealing means 42. Typically, such sealing means comprises a metal ringmounted on the end of tube 41 carrying one or more sealing rings 43which provide a dynamic fluid seal between the tube and the interior ofthe sleeve.

At its lower end, tube 41 is fastened to boss 44 on the inside of bodyextension 21. The boss contains an angular passage 45 which communicateswith the end of tube 41 and opens at the side of the pipe string to theexterior thereof. It will be noted that passage 45 opens to the exteriorof the pipe string below packer 31 so that packer 31 is in a position toblock fluid flow between the lower end 45 of the duct means 40 andeither of ports or 26 in the body above packer 31.

Usually, the tool is provided with a second packing means outside thepipe string 16, such packing means taking the form of a second resilientcup 48 mounted on the exterior of the pipe string. Like cup 31, fluidpressure on the inside of the cup forces it outwardly against theinterior surface of the casing to block fluid flow past the cup. Cup 48being located below duct means 40, it will be apparent that the passage45 opens to the space between the two packers or sealing means 31 or 48so that fluid under pressure issuing from duct means at passagemaintains a fluid pressure between and upon both of the resilientpacking cups.

As an example of one use of the present tool, there is shown in FIGURE 2one of the inflatable packers 12 mounted on the outside of casing 11.Between the ends of the inflatable packer, casing 11 is provided withone or more ports 50 at each of which is a check valve indicateddiagrammatically at 51, as this value may be of any suitableconstruction. This arrangement permits fluid under pressure to be pumpeddown the interior of pipe string 16 and with port 26 closed to bedischarged through passage 45 into the space between packers 31 and 48.The fluid under pressure then passes through casing ports 50 to fill andexpand packer 12 into contact with the sides of bore hole 10. The fluidunder pressure is retained within the inflatable packer by check valves51. It will be realized that for this purpose, pipe string 16 is loweredinto the casing to position ports 50 between the two cups 31 and 48.Inflating packers on the casing in this manner is one of the uses towhich the valve 18 can be put; and in order to carry out this operation,sleeve 23 is rotated to close the valve ports, particularly, the port26.

Description of variational form There is shown in FIGURE 3 a variationalembodiment of the present invention which is the same in all respects asthe embodiment described in connection with FIGURE 2 except that ports26 and 27 above the upper end of duct means 40 have been omitted. Also,the ports 29 and 30 have been duplicated in the sleeve and surroundingbody, respectively; but the duplicate ports do not change the structureof the valve in any respect since they are all below sealing means 42 atthe upper end of the central duct.

Uses of the tool At least some uses of the flow control valve of thepresent invention are in conjunction with port collars in the casing.While port collars are well known in the art, the construction of onetype of collar has been illustrated in some detail in FIGURES 2 and 3 inorder to provide a better understanding of the invention.

Briefly, a port collar 14 includes a short section 55 in the casingwhich is provided with one or more ports 56, as shown in FIGURE 3,particularly. Rotatably mounted inside the casing is a valve sleeve 27which is also provided with ports 58 equal in number to ports 56 andwhich, by rotation of the sleeve 57, can be brought into registrationwith ports 56 as shown in FIGURE 3 or moved out of registration in orderto close the ports tin the casing.

Rotation of sleeve 57 is effected by the present tool by meansillustrated in FIGURE 7. The interior surface of sleeve 57 is providedwith two longitudinally extending grooves or recesses 59, preferably atdiametrically opposed positions. Also at diametrically opposedpositions, body extension 21 of the valve is provided with a pair ofspring-urged shoes 60 which have tapered upper and lower ends and areadapted to enter the grooves 59. Thus, when the shoes 60 are at the samelevel in the casing as slots 59, the shoes upon rotational movement ofthe pipe string enter the slots and move the sleeve angularly withrespect to the casing in order to open and close ports 56. The shoes aredisengaged from the slots by raising or lowering the pipe stem insidethe casing.

How the present tool can be used for gravel packing in conjunction withthe port collar is illustrated in FIGURE 3. Port collar 14 of thatfigure may be assumed to be the lowermost port collar shown in thestring of pipe in FIGURE 1. The tool is located within the casing sothat the passage 45 representing the outlet of duct means 40 is at orslightly above port 56 in the collar, this port having been previouslyopened by the tool in the manner just described. In this position, thepacking cups 31 and 48 are located one above and one below the opening56 in the port collar.

If circulation is now established from the ground surface, gravelcarried thereby passes downwardly through pipe string 16 and duct means40 to be discharged from the pipe string at passage 45. Although some ofthe gravel will be retained inside the casing above cup 48, in general,it is carried by circulation out of the casing through ports 56 into theopen bore hole in which the gravel settles downwardly, it being carrieddown both by the force of gravity and by the circulation of fluid.

The bed of gravel being porous, fluid permeates the body of gravelaround the casing and enters the string of pipe 16 at the open lower end(not shown), as is the usual practice and will be understood by thosefamiliar with the art. Fuid then rises in tubing string 16 passingupwardly within body extension 21, as indicated by arrows 65. The fluidflows upwardly around inner tube 41 and leaves the interior of pipestring 16 through the open ports 30 to enter the annular space betweenpipe 16 and casing 11 through which the fluid then flows back to thesurface of the ground.

It will be seen that for a gravel-packing operation, the valve 18requires only the lower port 30 and the upper port 26 is omitted. Thisis because both ports are opened and closed simultaneously; but if meansare provided for opening the upper and lower ports selectively, then,the tool would operate as described with the upper port 26 closed bysleeve valve 23.

Either embodiment of the tool may be used to inflate an expansiblepacker 12 by internally pressurizing the packer in the manner alreadydescribed. When two packers 12 are spaced apart, cement can be placedbetween the packers using this tool by discharging the cement throughthe pipe string 16 and passage 45 and thence outwardly through an openport collar into the annular space in the well bore between the twopackers.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various other usesof the tool may be made and also that the tool may be modified in itsdetails in order to adapt it to specific uses without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it is to beunderstood that the above description is considered to be illustrativeof, rather than limitative upon, the invention as defined by theappended claims.

We claim:

1. A flow control valve adapted for inclusion in a string of pipe in abore hole, comprising:

an outer body adapted to connect with the string of pipe at one side ofthe valve and having a port in the wall;

an inner sleeve rotatable inside the body and adapted to connect withthe string of pipe at the other side of the body, the sleeve having aport movable into and out of registration with the body port;

means holding the body and sleeve against relative axial movement;

fluid duct means opening to the interior of the sleeve below the porttherein and to the exterior of the string of pipe below the port;

and packing means externally of the string of pipe below the port andabove the lower end of the duct means to block fluid flow externally ofthe pipe string between the port and the duct means.

2. A flow control valve as claimed in claim 1 that also comprises asecond packing means externally of the string of pipe below the lowerend of the duct means.

3. A flow control valve as claimed in claim 1 that also includes:

dynamic fluid sealing means between the sleeve and body around the porttherein; and

dynamic fluid sealing means between the sleeve and the duct means,whereby the sleeve can move angularly with respect to both the body andthe duct means without leaking fluid past the sleeve.

4. A flow control valve as in claim 3 which also includes means limitingthe relative angular movement of the body and sleeve.

5. A flow control valve as claimed in claim 1 in which both the body andthe sleeve each have a second port movable into and out of mutualregistration simultaneously with corresponding movement of thefirst-mentioned ports.

6. A flow control valve as claimed in claim 5 that also includes:

a second packing means externally of the string of pipe below the lowerend of the duct means;

dynamic sealing means between the sleeve and the body and dynamicsealing means between the sleeve and the duct means whereby the sleeveand body can turn .angularly relative to each other without causingfluid leakage;

and stop means limiting said relative angular movement in one directionto a position in which ports in the body are in registration with portsin the sleeve.

7. A flow control valve as claimed in claim 5 in which the duct meansopens to the sleeve interior at a point between the first-mcntioned portand second-mentioned port in the sleeve;

and which includes means between the ports blocking flow within thesleeve.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,796,937 6/1957 Haines et al166147 2,847,073 8/1958 Arterbury et al. 166147 JAMES A. LEPPINK,Primary Examiner.

